Cordell Martin holds a photo his uncle Jon Martin as he looks for him at the finish line of the 500 Festival OneAmerican Mini-Marathon Saturday, May 6, 2017, morning in Indianapolis. Matt Kryger/IndyStar

Lauren Paras,left, and Morgan Paras head toward the finish line in the finals few yards of the 500 Festival OneAmerican Mini-Marathon Saturday, May 6, 2017, morning in Indianapolis. Matt Kryger/IndyStar

INDIANAPOLIS – There was no way Greg Tamer was going to miss Saturday’s OneAmerica 500 Festival Mini-Marathon. Not for a family wedding. Not for back pain. Not for cancer treatment.

You see, this is how important the Mini is to him.

“I think it saved my life,” he said.

For someone who was never on a high school team and never a runner until his mid-20s, Tamer has become patriarch of a running family. This race has meant perspiration, motivation, and now, inspiration.

“The Mini is like everything to him,” said Mary Fellows, his daughter and one of four siblings to run track for Lawrence North High School. “He’s very determined. He wants to be around for his grandkids.”

Tamer, 63, is a Pittsburgh native and 3M project manager who lives in Fishers. He started running in 1980. It was the easiest way to stay in shape when his children were small. Lace up the shoes, out the door, dawn or dusk, morning or night, even when the family slept.

“You don’t have to worry about a pool. You don’t have to worry about equipment,” Tamer said.

He didn’t have to worry about racing until some of his running buddies, then employees of Thompson Consumer Electronics, talked him into entering the 1986 Mini. Fun, huh?

Midway through the 13.1-mile race, he told himself: This is the stupidest thing I have ever done. A few weeks later, he reconsidered.

He made it to 30 Minis in a row, once finishing in a time of 94 minutes – or a little over 3-hour marathon pace. That means you are a legit runner. He ran three marathons on the former Fort Benjamin Harrison course.

Training partners could beat him in 5Ks or 10Ks, but Tamer could outdistance them in a half-marathon.

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Barb Secrest (left), and Barb Pryor, both of Indianapolis, work the check in booth in advance of the 500 Festival Mini-Marathon, Indiana Convention Center, Indianapolis, Thursday, May 4, 2017. Secrest said she's done the event 24 times, Pryor 11 times. The race takes place on Saturday, which is forcast to be in the low 40s at the start, with possible rain. Robert Scheer/IndyStar

Shirts waiting for entrants to pick them up at the check in for the 500 Festival Mini-Marathon, Indiana Convention Center, Indianapolis, Thursday, May 4, 2017. The race takes place on Saturday, which is forcast to be in the low 40s at the start, with possible rain. Robert Scheer/IndyStar

Joanna Crawford (left), Longmont, CO, works a Yerba Mate drink booth with Patty Beidelman, Greenwood, during check in at the 500 Festival Mini-Marathon, Indiana Convention Center, Indianapolis, Thursday, May 4, 2017. The race takes place on Saturday, which is forcast to be in the low 40s at the start, with possible rain. Robert Scheer/IndyStar

Pooja Katkar, Carmel, takes a look at running skirts at the check in festival before the 500 Festival Mini-Marathon, Indiana Convention Center, Indianapolis, Thursday, May 4, 2017. Katkar did the event last year, but is here rooting on friends this year. The race takes place on Saturday, which is forcast to be in the low 40s at the start, with possible rain. Robert Scheer/IndyStar

Richard Patty, Boston, works a Clif product "bar" at the festival around the 500 Festival Mini-Marathon, Indiana Convention Center, Indianapolis, Thursday, May 4, 2017. The race takes place on Saturday, which is forcast to be in the low 40s at the start, with possible rain. Robert Scheer/IndyStar

Check in before the 500 Festival Mini-Marathon, Indiana Convention Center, Indianapolis, Thursday, May 4, 2017. The race takes place on Saturday, which is forcast to be in the low 40s at the start, with possible rain. Robert Scheer/IndyStar

Head bands in a festival area before the 500 Festival Mini-Marathon, Indiana Convention Center, Indianapolis, Thursday, May 4, 2017. The race takes place on Saturday, which is forcast to be in the low 40s at the start, with possible rain. Robert Scheer/IndyStar

Merchandise at a festival before the 500 Festival Mini-Marathon, Indiana Convention Center, Indianapolis, Thursday, May 4, 2017. The race takes place on Saturday, which is forcast to be in the low 40s at the start, with possible rain. Robert Scheer/IndyStar

Merchandise at a festival before the 500 Festival Mini-Marathon, Indiana Convention Center, Indianapolis, Thursday, May 4, 2017. The race takes place on Saturday, which is forcast to be in the low 40s at the start, with possible rain. Robert Scheer/IndyStar

Registrants and supporters look at a downtown map at check in before the Merchandise at a festival before the 500 Festival Mini-Marathon, Indiana Convention Center, Indianapolis, Thursday, May 4, 2017. The race takes place on Saturday, which is forcast to be in the low 40s at the start, with possible rain. Robert Scheer/IndyStar

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After a half-mile, he was out of breath. He was out of shape, but not that much. He was first diagnosed with anemia, but in December came worse news. He had multiple myeloma, a blood cancer. Tamer’s father had died from multiple myeloma in 1961.

“I made it over to the exam table and passed out. It was a shock,” Tamer said. “I thought I was dead.”

Nurses revived him. He was told treatment would allow him to live a normal life. He endured chemotherapy and two bone marrow transplants.

Multiple myeloma is not a death sentence, although there is no cure. Almost all patients eventually have a relapse, sometimes as soon as five years, according to Sherif Farag, a hematologist and oncologist at Indiana University Health.

But prognosis has improved with the development and approval of several drugs in recent years, Farag said. Survival rate has more than doubled. And Tamer has been “a very motivated patient,” the doctor said.

“He was actually quite a fit person before being diagnosed with this cancer,” Farag said. “Coming into treatment with that level of fitness has helped him get through the treatment.”

Tamer’s streak of 30 consecutive Minis run ended in 2016, but not his zeal for the race. He had paid for his Mini T-shirt, and he was going to earn it.

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The starting line for the 2016 OneAmerica 500 Festival Mini-Marathon(Photo: Kelly Wilkinson/IndyStar)

He kept to a route of one-eleventh of a mile around the Simon Cancer Center. Over several days, he walked those 13.1 miles, sometimes with his daughter. To make sure, he walked about 170 laps instead of the requisite 144. He would go in the morning or middle of the night, just like at home.

Tamer made it back to the Mini starting line in 2017, and to the finish line in just under 3 hours, which was his goal. He jogged and walked with his running buddies, and he probably should not have. Stress fractures in his back were still healing.

Those buddies will do what Tamer does in 2018 -- walk, jog, whatever.

“Running is a pretty big part of Greg’s life,” said George Sirilla, 55, a 3M senior engineer who has run with Tamer for decades. “It’s something he can’t easily give up, and he’s not willing to at this point.”

Tamer would have a running legacy even if he did not run another step. His four children all became runners: Greg Jr., 41; Amy Tamer, 39, Mary Fellows,37; and D.J., who died in 2006 at age 24.

Greg Jr. finished fifth in the 800 meters at the 1995 state meet, and he and Mary ran for Purdue. Mary married Donnie Fellows, 39, also a Purdue runner. Donnie in 2002 became the Boilermakers’ first distance runner in 41 years to win a Big Ten title, and he was 38th in the 2012 Olympic Trials marathon in 2:17:36.

Tamer is convinced the Mini saved him. Preparing for the race made him more callused for the recovery process, and trying to run alerted him to symptoms early enough for treatment.

He said tests now show no signs of cancer. There is no need to test his resolve to complete the Mini.

“He’ll probably push himself,” Sirilla said, “like he always does.”

Email IndyStar reporter David Woods at david.woods@indystar.com or call (317) 444-6195. Follow him on Twitter: @DavidWoods007.